Fortunately, the water wasn't very deep, so the mule stood on the bottom and the farmer heard him praying... or whatever mules do when they fall into wells.

After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer felt bad for the old mule...but decided neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble it'd take to save them. So he called his neighbors together, told them what had happened, and got them to help him haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Well, when the dirt started falling the old mule got hysterical.

But as the farmer and his neighbors kept shoveling, and the dirt kept falling, the mule got a strange idea: why not just shake off the dirt every time a shovel load hit him...and step up.

And that's what he did, as blow after blow of dirt hit him on the back.

"Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up" the mule kept telling himself, over and over, to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought off the panic and just kept right on ... shaking it off and stepping up.

And it wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped up triumphantly over the wall of the well to freedom.

What looked like it was going to bury him had actually helped him...all because of how he chose to handle the dirt, the adversity, that others kept shoveling into his life.